Duhon joins Deng on bench due to back pain

April 12, 2006|BY MARLEN GARCIA.

For more than a month, Chris Duhon has tried to dismiss his lower back pain during games. It caught up with him Tuesday and forced the second-year guard to sit out the Bulls' game against the New Jersey Nets.

Duhon joined fellow starter Luol Deng on the bench. Deng missed his second straight game because of a concussion he suffered in a collision with Eric Piatkowski on Saturday. Piatkowski sat out a second straight game because of a head injury that required 18 stitches.

Deng's status for Wednesday is a game-time decision but he will travel with the team. On his way out of the United Center, Duhon told a television reporter he did not expect to play against the Hawks.

Deng said that since the accident, he has been sensitive to light. He still was having trouble remembering the moments immediately following the accident.

Quotable

Coach Scott Skiles, on whether he was worried about Deng's absence: "I don't worry about injured guys. Maybe that characterizes . . . I'm not some touchy-feely person. This is pro sports. Guys who show up and are ready to play, that's what you go with."

Layups

The league fined the Nets' Richard Jefferson $5,000 for kicking a ball into the stands Sunday at Milwaukee. . . . The Bulls signed guard Randy Livingston for the remainder of the season. . . . Team trainer Fred Tedeschi said Darius Songaila's broken foot will be evaluated again late next week, which means Songaila has no chance of returning for any of the final five games. . . . Eddie Basden was supposed to come off the inactive list for the game, but he was omitted from the roster in error by Tedeschi.